


Summer Loving

by ShellyNelsonLahey



Category: Archie Comics, Archie Comics & Related Fandoms, Riverdale - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-18
Updated: 2018-10-21
Packaged: 2019-08-01 21:51:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16292450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShellyNelsonLahey/pseuds/ShellyNelsonLahey
Summary: Throughout summer, no one had really known about Josie McCoy and Sweet Pea hooking up. Only them, and the two who had initially helped carve their way towards one another, Cheryl Blossom and Toni Topaz, knew about the relationship. Although, as time wore on, it became less of a sexy, well-kept secret and everybody knew. Although, no one really cared as much as they thought they would, so they continued to flaunt their cute, flirty relationship. Sadly, Josie only wanted their relationship to be a summer fling, because no one, not even a boy as handsome and loving as Sweet Pea, was going to get in her way of becoming a globally known pop star. But if she thought Sweet Pea was going to just give her up without a fight, Josie had a whole thing coming for her.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Since the writers suddenly sprung this cute relationship and showed an awesome flirty, adorable side of Sweet Pea out of nowhere, I decided to take it upon myself to fill in the gaps of their summer. I started this as a headcannon post on Tumblr, but here is where it'll be made into readable chapters. This first chapter is how they officially met (because I don't think they've met before so... if i'm wrong then I guess it's an AU) and how everything started.

Sweet Pea blew out a bored puff of air as he reclined back in his dusty, daffodil-colored yellow truck. The air outside was miserably hot and sticky, typical for the summertime afternoon, but thankfully Sweet Pea's windows and AC worked decently well, keeping him cool enough to not feel as miserable as everybody else claimed they were. If he wasn't waiting on Toni and Cheryl to finish cheerleading practice, he would have been blasting his music as loud as he pleased, drowning out the whistles from the football coach over by the side of the school where the football players practiced. However, Ain't No Rest For The Wicked by Cage The Elephant softly drummed over the speakers of the car, setting the Serpent at ease as he patiently waited for his Serpent buddies to come out of the ocean blue doors of Riverdale high.

When three short knocks were heard on the window of his truck, Sweet Pea burst up from his accidental snooze, partly wary of who could be lurking around him, and the other half of him figuring that it was Cheryl or Toni, ready and waiting to be let into the truck. Although, as he focused on the figured outside the passenger door, the dark raven hair of Reggie Mantle coerced a groan from his lips, not wanting his peaceful, chill mood to be ruined. Reggie was clothed in his blue and yellow football gear, wiping away the sweat from his forehead with the underarmor that started from under his jersey and ended at his wrist. The Serpent cranked his seat up to face the jock, sighing aloud to signify that he was already tired of Reggie's unsaid venomous words, yet ready to snap back at him. Reluctantly, he rolled down his window, prepared for angry outbursts of "go back to where you belong, snake" or "nobody wants you here, lowlife" or something along that pathetic line. Yet today was oddly much, much different than it normally was between them.

"What are you doing here so late on a Friday afternoon?" Reggie spoke with a confused expression, crossing his arms as he laid against the edge of the window. The boy's face was red and splotchy after finishing with football, and once the window was down, he knew the hot and sticky weather of the air outside of his truck didn't help much. "Also, i'm sorry for bothering you... I noticed your truck has been here for awhile, and I was afraid you fell asleep after school, or something. It's officially summer, dude. Go enjoy it."

Sweet Pea was slightly taken aback at how civil and friendly Reggie was being— normally, all Sweet Pea had to do to get Reggie to start a fight was to simply exist. "No, I'm, uh, waiting for Toni and Cheryl to finish cheerleading. It ended about ten minutes ago, so they should be out here soon."

"You've been waiting for them for three hours? It's six, dude." Reggie shook his head incredulously, shifting his weight from on foot to the other. "Come on, get out of the car. You should grab a bite to eat with all of us, Sweet Pea. Moose is asking the remaining cheerleaders if they want to go out to celebrate the official start of our summer."

"You're asking me to join you and the preppy's for dinner?" Sweet Pea's head leaned back in shock, unsure if he was hallucinating or not. "Why are you being so nice, where's the anger, the Serpent versus the Bulldog mentality, the clear insecurity?"

"I'm going to ignore you saying that I fight you out of insecurity— look, it's summer, and Archie and Jughead have proposed a peace treaty between Bulldogs and Serpents. I'm not looking to be shanked, and i'm trying to show that I'm willing to do whatever is best for everyone. So... do you want to come or not, Sweet Pea?" Reggie sighed, running a hand through his sweaty hair. "You'll have to wait a bit longer for everyone to shower, but it'll be ten minutes, max."

"If you're setting me up..." Sweet Pea grumbled under his breath, mostly to himself as he closed the window and shut off the truck. Climbing out of the driver's seat, he slammed the door shut and locked it before he joined in besides Reggie, ignoring the smell of B.O. that radiated off of the boy. "So, if we're going to be frenemies, or whatever, how about telling me something about yourself to seal our budding friendship?"

"Mmhm, alright," Reggie nodded as the two of them trudged up towards the school. "I bought a dog from a shelter and named it Vader."

"Vader, as in Star Wars?" Sweet Pea snorted, trying to contain his laughter. When Reggie sent him a hard, angry stare, Sweet Pea raised his arms in defense. "Relax, i'm not judging. We have a dog named Hot Dog. Besides, I actually like it."

"I don't even care if you're fucking with me," Reggie smiled. "I love that damn dog, and if anything ever happened to him..."

"You'd kill anyone who goes near it, and then yourself to protect him? Yeah, I know exactly how that is," Sweet Pea chuckled, unable to believe the honest and actually friend-building conversation they were having. It was almost too good to be true, but he was going to enjoy it while it lasted, if that were the case. "I love animals. If I weren't stuck in this stupid ass town, I'd probably want to become a Veterinarian or something, help animals and shit."

"Seriously? The big bad gang member wants to help out animals?" Reggie looked at the boy incredulously. "Don't tell me you're really a soft guy, too."

"Shut the fuck up, Mantle," Sweet Pea snapped. "I could say the exact same for you, dickhead."

"Jesus, I was making a joke, Sweet Pea. Chill out," Reggie raised his hands up in surrender. It was only for a couple of moments, though, because then he opened the door to the school for the both of them. Sweet Pea was honestly surprised he had let him through first, he wasn't used to people being polite with him. Reggie began to branch off towards a long hallway, walking backwards as he shouted, "we're all meeting in the gym!"

Awkwardly, Sweet Pea sent him a thankful nod, sucking in his lips as he began his short journey to the gym, hoping, praying, that Reggie didn't just set him up for a large-scale embarrassment. Believing the jock and having everybody witness hard-ass gang member Sweet Pea standing there waiting for somebody who definitely didn't intend on letting him come to a celebration of summer dinner was not what Sweet Pea wanted to be a part of. He also couldn't help but thing that he was going to be forced to sit there for a long time waiting for no one to show up. However, as he opened up the coral blue doors to the gym, it was alight, and some jocks and cheerleaders sat on the last open part of the bleachers, chilling on their phones to pass the time.

"Sweet Pea, I only sent you about a million texts over fifteen minutes ago," Toni laughed, skipping over to greet the boy. "If you didn't see them, how'd you know to come in?"

"Oddly enough, Reggie approached my truck and asked if I wanted to join some celebration dinner, or something?" Sweet Pea still couldn't believe it, and having the words come out of his mouth made it all the more weird. Still, seeing how jocks and cheerleaders waited in the gymnasium, Reggie wasn't lying.

"I know you just got here, but could you please go get my gym bag from the girl's locker room? Cheryl and I have to pee so badly and the other girls still aren't really fond of me," Toni begged, her hand clasping around his as she pulled his body down to show him just how serious she was. "It's the girl's locker room, but my bag is right by the entrance. Please, I don't trust anybody not to mess with my bag."

"If I get suspended for 'trying to take a peek at a changing cheerleader' or something, I will bring you down with me," Sweet Pea threatened the girl, barely hearing her whisper a thank you as her and Cheryl burst back into the hallway. The girl's looked up from their phones as Sweet Pea walked by, intrigued by the bad boy who merely gave them a quick glance. However, as he entered the women's locker room, no one seemed to really care about what he was doing, which he found a little bit surprising. When men came even a couple of feet near a women's restroom or changing room, suddenly they were the largest threat. But, considering he was walking into a locker room and no one had batted an eye, he felt incredibly odd.

A beautiful voice suddenly began to echo around the locker room walls, the voice so soft yet thrilling, and Sweet Pea was completely enamored over whoever the voice belonged to. Although, he didn't have to guess for long as Josie McCoy appeared around the corner, growing louder as she really got into her singing. Sweet Pea couldn't seem to take his eyes off of her— not because she was naked, because she wasn't, but because she was radiating with confidence, beauty, and she knew it. He was absolutely taken by her aura, and this really surprised him because he had heard so much about her, yet never met her until now.

"What are you doing in the girl's locker room?" Josie suddenly stopped, bringing him out of the siren song-like trance she had placed him in. "I won't hesitate to have every bulldog running in here to beat your ass up for trying to sneak a peek at my body."

"No, no, that's not what i'm doing," Sweet Pea gulped, backing away in fear. "Toni... she sent me in here for her bag. She doesn't trust anyone else to get it because the girl's in the Vixen's apparently don't like her. Ask her yourself, but please don't get me in trouble. I don't want to be expelled or suspended, I finally am able to go to a school that—"

"Chill, Sweet Pea," Josie chuckled lightly. "Her bag is right there. You'd know that if you weren't busy listening to my voice."

Laughing awkwardly, Sweet Pea argued, "yeah, but you can't blame me. You have a beautiful voice."

"I know," she smirked, placing her hand on his shoulder, then patted it a couple of times. "Are you going to the celebratory dinner? I'd love to see you there."

"Yeah, I am," Sweet Pea nodded, grunting lightly as he slung Toni's bag around his shoulder. Together, the two of them walked out of the girl's locker room, looking at each other as if to think about what they were going to say next.

Josie stopped Sweet Pea in his tracks right outside the locker room door. "You know... now that it's summer, I don't really have any responsibilities. You know, during school I have to focus on my education and my career, but right now..." she danced her fingers across his arm lightly, looking up at him with a flirty smile.

Nervously, Sweet Pea laughed lightly. "Are you... are you proposing a summertime fling, McCoy?"

"I guess I am," Josie nodded, biting down on her lip. "But if we do choose to start one, it has to end before school starts up again. You hear me?"

His confidence slowly coming back, Sweet Pea's small smile turned into a big grin. "Yeah... I hear you. Toni and Cheryl are back, so I'll talk to you later."

"You better, Sweet Pea," she cooed, sending him a seductive wink before the two split off.

By the time he had reached his two friends, their mouths were dangling open. "Were you and Josie just... flirting?" Toni gasped playfully hitting her best friend's arm. "I'm so proud of you for not fucking it up! You and I both know how bad you are at flirting."

"Is he really that bad? I mean, he has great arms, an attractive face, and a bad-boy attitude. He would never have to make the first move," Cheryl commented. "Except with Josie, she is different than most girls. Still, I made him out to be the best at flirting."

"No, Sweet Pea looks like he has the makings of a God, but in reality he's actually a big teddy bear who blushes at the smallest touch of a girl," Toni snorted, ignoring Sweet Pea's glare. "Josie, come here!"

"What are you doing?" Sweet Pea growled lowly under his breath, unable to believe that his best friend had the wildest grin playing on her lips while he was petrified of her calling Josie over after they had parted ways. In some weird way, it felt like he was breaking some weird dating rule. "Toni... I swear to God..."

"Toni, Cheryl, hey!" Josie bounced into the small group, her arm just barely nudging Sweet Pea's, and he knew it was on purpose. "What's up?"

"Oh... nothing... we just wanted to know if you would sit by us when we go out to eat!" Cheryl smiled politely. "After what's happened between you and I, I would really like to rekindle our friendship."

"Sounds wonderful, Cheryl. Of course I will set next to you guys," Josie sighed happily. "Right now, we're just waiting on Reggie, but it shouldn't be long now."

"Okay, great... we can't wait. Especially Sweet Pea!" Toni smirked, watching as her best friend sent her daggers. "He loves food."

"Who doesn't?"


	2. First Date

Two days after they had met, Josie had invited Sweet Pea out to dinner at Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe. After eating with the football team and the River Vixens, they had talked almost non-stop, and it was clear of their chemistry and how well they clicked together. So, Josie nor Sweet Pea were against the date. They were iffy about being alone in public, however, because it wasn't a normal thing for a girl like Josie and a guy like Sweet Pea to be alone together, especially at a popular date-place like Pop's. Take Midge Klump and Fangs Fogarty for example: even though there was no motive for him to kill her, Fangs was immediately blamed for her murder all because he was a South Sider and she was a North Sider. It was like Vampires and Werewolves, sworn enemies that went so far back that it was almost impossible to pinpoint when exactly the feud started. And the last thing Josie and Sweet Pea wanted was to bring attention to their budding summer romance and ruin it.

Nevertheless, Sweet Pea was so nervous that he arrived half an hour before their first date. He was placed in a small booth by the back of the diner, per his request, picking at his nails as he kept his gaze on the door. He would never admit this to her, but he almost thought that she would have never come, either changing her mind or simply not wanting to take the risk of being with him. The idea of it destroyed him inside, but he had a reputation to uphold. If she did hurt him, he would have to act like she meant nothing to him in the first place, when in fact that was the complete opposite. Most people who got with Sweet Pea, they were South Siders who simply wanted a good time for the night and then they wouldn't really see each other again. He was okay with that, because he didn't feel an attachment to them — but Josie? She didn't want him simply because he was the "bad guy," she wanted him because they had a connection, a small spark that had the potential to burn down an entire forest.

The more time wore on, the more nervous he got — when the bell rang and in walked Josie sporting a gorgeous, simple yellow dress adorned with fancier jewelry, he smiled widely, gawking at how ravishing she looked. Immediately, he was set at ease, suddenly uncaring for how late she was to their date. It was only ten minutes, anyways. Josie spotted Sweet Pea in the corner, and the small smile that appeared on her face simply made his grow even bigger. As she approached, Sweet Pea stood up, knowing it was the polite thing to do. Besides, there were no chairs that he could slide out, so standing up was all he could really do to show his manners. She fell into her side of the booth, slightly taken aback, almost like she were overwhelmed.

"I don't mean to use stereotypes, but I didn't figure you as a man who followed etiquette that rarely any man uses now-a-days," Josie claimed, her eyebrows slightly raised as she looked at the boy who chuckled under his breath. "Please don't take that the wrong way. It's just—"

"—just that you imagined a bad South Side Serpent boy who was misogynistic and a total douche, and never learned manners?" Sweet Pea sighed, knowing that his outward behavior, how everybody expected him to be, was going to come up sooner or later. "Yeah, my grandmother, Lily, she raised me since I was eight. I acted out after my father had dropped me off on her like a damned coward, but thankfully I had my grandmother. She didn't let me be the hot-headed asshole I make myself out to be when I began to stay with her. She taught me manners, taught me how to treat people, but also taught me how to manage my anger. Even that, i'm still learning. I know I seem like an ass, but it's to protect myself, I swear."

"Your father abandoned you?" Josie's eyebrows knitted together in pity, her arm stretching out to grab at his hand. "That's horrible. Any man that can do that to his children is a downright coward who should be publicly shamed. It's so sad that you walk on eggshells around everybody because it seems like you're afraid of how we will perceive you. I've always wondered why you seemed so angry all the time, but finding out why makes complete sense. I'd be pissed, too."

"Don't tell anyone, please," Sweet Pea begged lowly, taking a gulp of his water as he examined her reaction to his plea. Her head cocked back in shock, the vulnerable underlay in which he had spoken invoking a pang of sadness through her veins. "If people know that it's all just a front to keep myself safe... I'll never hear the end of Reggie's shit. I have to be tough or else people will eat me alive."

"Of course, Sweet Pea," Josie nodded, sending him a small, sympathetic smile. "Hey, I might not be able to really relate, but you're not the only one who has to hide their feelings."

At this, it was Sweet Pea's turn to draw in his eyebrows. "What do you mean? You seem so confident, sure of yourself."

"Key word, seem," Josie sighed, letting her eyes wonder to the middle of the table. "But that's a good thing, because that's what I want everyone to think. My parents want me to be this amazing singing prodigy, and I do, too, but it's so hard to keep in all of my thoughts and be the sassy, independent, yet innocent child they believe me to be. Sometimes I think about wanting to run away deep into Fox Forest and just... scream. As loud as I can, for as long as I can—just to get it all out."

"I get that. That's what I do when I ride on my motorcycle. I can feel the wind, the bitter cold numbing my entire body, and I just feel... free. Maybe we can try screaming out our frustrations together. It might help to not be so alone and isolated," Sweet Pea suggested with a small, encouraging smile.

"If not, we could always do some other activity that involves screaming," Josie wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, sliding Sweet Pea's glass in front of herself before placing her lips on the straw, watching him with very seductive, enticing eyes. "I'd be down for that, too. Hell, one after the other? We'd be unstoppable."

Sweet Pea smirked at her in a proud, satisfactory way. She was coming onto him, and he loved it. He was the one who normally went after people, but this time she was most definitely in charge, and something about that turned him on. "And some people think that i'm some horn dog who is the first one to suggest having sex. Ms. McCoy, you are one dominant woman, aren't you?"

"Try to keep up, Sweet Pea," She continued to use his straw to her advantage, cocking a delicate eyebrow in a challenging way. "But, first, i'm starving. Want to share a big plate of Super Fries?"


End file.
